Social Security is a strange and sacred cow

It is not an exaggeration to say that the nation’s economic security is riding on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. President Obama created the independent, bipartisan commission to cut through the gridlock that paralyzes Capitol Hill and create a series of recommendations to deal with the long-term debt crisis confronting the United States. Its final report is due after the Nov. 2 election.

At the heart of this crisis is runaway spending on entitlement programs – Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. The late House Speaker Tip O’Neill famously described Social Security as the “third rail” of American politics, meaning anyone foolish enough to mess with it would pay a high price.

But mess with it we must. And so President Obama selected two independent-minded co-chairman to lead the fiscal reform commission: Erskine Bowles, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, and Alan Simpson, former Republican senator from Wyoming. About the two, Clinton said they “are free enough to disregard the polls but they are smart enough to take them into account.”

Maybe.

Simpson is known for being blunt and for having an off-color sense of humor. Still, it was hoped he could carry out his duties without jeopardizing the work of the commission.

Those hopes were laid to rest this week. Simpson got into it with Ashley Carson, the director of the Older Women’s League, a group for which Social Security is a sacred cow. In an e-mail to her, he wrote:

“Yes, I’ve made some plenty smart cracks about people on Social Security who milk it to the last degree. You know ’em too. It’s the same with any system in America. We’ve reached a point now where it’s like a milk cow with 310 million tits! Call when you get honest work.”